In Your Head
by revivingophelia
Summary: She's going to fight back... even if it means teaming up with an old enemy. 8/2/13 SmackDown, but set in my own version of a couple weeks later. Kaitlyn, Eve Torres, Dolph Ziggler, others.
1. Chapter 1

Title: In Your Head

Author: Karen U/revivingophelia

Pairing/Character: Eve Torres, Kaitlyn, Dolph Ziggler, others

Disclaimer: no one you recognize belongs to me

Rating: R/M

Summary: She's going to fight back. Even if it means teaming up with an old enemy.

Spoilers: **8/2/13 SmackDown, but set in my own version of a couple weeks later.** :-)

Warnings: language, violence, adult situations

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_{ ... the golden rule you never learned in school... boys can be mean, but girls are downright cruel... hey... you're gonna make 'em pay... hey... you'll have the last word today... your daddy said... walk away instead... don't let those petty girls throw you... don't let them in your head... -Court Yard Hounds, Phoebe... ]_

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Part One

She cursed under her breath, fighting to reach her hands and knees... Then quickly dropping back down and rolling out of the way as an one of her opponents tried to dropped an elbow on her. Tried, but failed... Instead hitting the mat hard. Shifting, she drew her leg up, then lashed out with it, kicking her would-be assailant in the back, the blow landing hard enough that she actually managed to send the other woman into the ringpost. For a moment, she was happy with her work, but then someone kicked her in the back of the head, and she immediately tucked into a ball, protecting her head, cursing herself for the fact that she'd forgotten, if only for an instant, that she didn't have just one person out there gunning for her.

She had two.

As another kick came her way, Kaitlyn reached out, grabbing hold of an ankle, then yanking hard, sending the other woman onto her back... After that, she rolled herself across the ring, knowing she needed to put some distance between herself and the two women she was facing. Two women that, at one point, had actually been her friends. In fact, AJ Lee, the woman whose ankle she'd just grabbed, had once been her best friend. But then boyfriends and the need to be the center of attention and general psychosis (meaning AJ's boyfriends, AJ's need to be the center of attention, and AJ's general psychosis) had come between them... And then there was Layla. The woman that had pretended to be so supportive of her for so long. That had pretended to be happy for her when she'd finally won the title back in January... The woman that had comforted her after she'd lost the title to AJ at Payback... Then comforted again when she'd lost her rematch at Money in the Bank. And when she'd managed to earn herself another shot by beating AJ in a non-title match, Layla had been the first to congratulate her, even offering to be at ringside for her title shot, just in case.

And in the end, that had been Kaitlyn's downfall.

Layla had gotten in her way, allowing AJ to blindside her and, when she'd been reeling from that... It had all fallen apart. AJ had managed to beat her. Again. Kaitlyn had been thrown off her game, angry at Layla, distracted... And even then, she hadn't realized the truth. No, she hadn't realized that Layla and AJ were actually working together until they'd left together, skipping off like a couple of psychotic morons. And then had come the biggest blow... The knowledge that, back at Night of Champions, it hadn't been Aksana in a wig that had attacked her, taking her out of the match. No, that part had been a half-baked scheme by Teddy Long - a scheme that everyone, including Kaitlyn, had believed - to get Eve Torres into trouble... But all along, it hadn't been Eve. It had been Layla. Layla, trying to get the match cancelled so she could have more time with the title. Well, that had backfired on her big-time, because she'd had to fight Eve instead, and Eve had won... And Layla hadn't held the title since that night.

Maybe she hoped that AJ would let her be a co-champion or something now.

Shaking her head, Kaitlyn forced herself to her feet, knowing she was a little wobbly on them. Individually, she was stronger than either one of them, but trying to fight off two people at once... It wasn't easy. Her only hope was to get one of them on the outside of the ring and unable to save the other one, but she knew she was running out of time for that. She was wearing down, and they were taking turns attacking her, so neither of them were as tired as she was.

Damn it, she wished she had a partner... But AJ had done her job well. No one wanted to help her out, no one wanted to team up with her. She'd even tried to talk to someone she'd never thought she would be willing to team up with, but to no avail. And now... Now she was in trouble.

Kaitlyn cursed as Layla came at her with a punch, the younger woman blocking it, but before she could throw her own punch in retaliation, she felt hands grab her hair, snapping her head back and causing her neck to hit the rope... She hadn't even noticed that AJ had gotten out of the ring, that she'd managed to head around and was waiting to put in a sneak attack on the outside... Clutching her neck, Kaitlyn stumbled forward, managing to duck down to avoid another wild blow from Layla-

And that was when it happened.

She was sure that the end was near, that the match would end soon because she just couldn't handle it any longer... Or maybe they would start to go after her with weapons, since they'd managed to talk Brad Maddox into making this match no disqualification on top of being handicapped. But instead of another attack, instead of more blows, something unexpected happened.

Someone came out to help her.

A scream erupted from AJ's throat as someone grabbed onto her and spun her around, practically launching the divas' champion into the steel steps... Then yanking her up again and tossing her into the announce table for good measure. And as Kaitlyn watched, stunned, the woman then turned around, smirking at the sight of Layla leaning over the ropes to yell abuse at her... And that was Layla's mistake. Leaning over the ropes had made the woman's next move far too easy as she stepped forward and reached out, grabbing Layla's hair and yanking down, sending her throat against the ropes... And as Layla stumbled back, Kaitlyn moved forward, reaching out and grabbing at her, rolling her up as quickly as she could... Closing her eyes and practically holding her breath as she waited for the ref to finish the three count... And then it was over and her music was playing and she was rolling out of the ring... Barely able to stand on her own, but the other woman was there, pulling her up, helping her to stand. Lifting her head, Kaitlyn looked the other woman in the eye.

"I thought you said you weren't going to come back," she said, and Eve Torres gave a shrug of her shoulders.

"I changed my mind. You complaining about it?"

"Right now? Hell no."

"Good. Now let's get you out of here."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

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Part Two

Kaitlyn allowed Eve to help her to the back, the Houston native not entirely sure that she would have made it on her own otherwise.

"Careful on these stairs," Eve said as they started to make their way down, the older woman shooting a glance back over her shoulder as they headed down the steps, and it took Kaitlyn a moment to realize she was probably checking to make sure no one - meaning Layla or AJ - was going to ambush them. Truth be told, AJ was probably still down by the announce table trying to get herself back together after the way Eve had thrown her around. Layla, on the other hand... Well, if she wasn't trying to help AJ, then she actually was a definite possibility to come at them with another attack. Or maybe she wouldn't. After all, there were two of them and, with AJ likely out of it, only one for her group.

"So, when did you decide to come back? Like, twenty minutes ago or something? 'Cause if not, a little warning would have been nice. Or, not a warning, since you helped me, but... A heads up, I guess."

"And have you walk out there looking all confident? They would have suspected something," the other woman replied, letting go of Kaitlyn as they finished making it down the stairs. Turning to look at the younger diva, she put her hands on her hips, frowning as she assessed her. "You okay?"

"Just knocked around. I'm not injured."

"You sure? Because now is not the time to lie to yourself or to me-"

"I'm good. Sore, but... Everything's still working," Kaitlyn told the other woman, letting out a sigh, and straightening up a little, pushing her hair back out of her face. "You didn't tell me when you decided to come back."

Eve shrugged, gesturing for them to start walking, which Kaitlyn figured wasn't a bad idea. She couldn't be sure that Layla and AJ wouldn't come looking for them soon - or at least Layla - and despite the fact that she'd been telling Eve the truth when she said she wasn't injured, that didn't mean she wasn't hurting at the moment. Between the two opponents she'd had tonight, she'd endured some pretty nasty hits.

As they made their way down the hall, Eve shot a look her way. "I decided a few days ago. Like, last Wednesday."

"And you didn't think it might be nice for me to know?"

"As I said... If you had walked out to that match looking too confident, then they would have known something was going on. A sneak attack doesn't work as well when the people you're attacking expect it," Eve told her, the woman pushing a hand through her hair as she walked. "Also, I had to get myself signed to a contract. I mean, it's not like I could just decide 'oh, I'm coming back'. I had to be under contract," the woman said, then shrugged. "Not that it was difficult to come to a deal, but still... I couldn't be sure I'd get one until I actually tried. I didn't sign the actual contract until this morning."

"How did you manage to get a new contract?" Kaitlyn asked, shaking out her wrist as they walked. She'd fallen on it funny one of the times she'd been knocked down, but it was just a little tweaked, nothing serious. Plus, it wasn't her dominant hand or anything anyway, so... She'd be fine.

"It wasn't hard," Eve said, a small smile touching her lips. "After you asked me if I would come back and I shot you down... I thought about it, reconsidered, and then I talked to Vickie, and she actually likes me okay and doesn't like AJ at all, so... She signed me pretty quickly," the woman told her, then shot a glance her way. "I should warn you, though..."

"Warn me? About what?"

"Vickie thinks I deserve a title shot. Since I left without calling in my rematch clause," the older woman said and, the truth was, Kaitlyn couldn't deny that. Former champions deserved to have their rematches... Although...

"Even though the only reason you didn't get a rematch is because you quit?"

"I wouldn't have gotten one even if I hadn't quit. Teddy Long made sure I saw the paperwork before the match. Even though it was in my contract that I was supposed to get one... I wasn't going to get one. I suppose it shouldn't have surprised me," Eve said, shooting Kaitlyn a look. "I never got a rematch when I lost the title from my second reign, when Brie frigging Bella of all people took the title from me."

Kaitlyn made a face. She remembered that match... Brie had only gotten a title shot because of twin magic during a battle royal, and then, despite Nikki having an 'x' on her hand - courtesy of Eve's demands - to keep them from pulling a switch, they'd tried during Brie's title shot... They'd been caught, but the distraction had allowed Brie to catch Eve by surprise for the pin and the win... And no, Eve had never gotten her rematch after losing the title.

"I'd almost forgotten about that. But I'm guessing you never did."

"That sort of thing sticks in your mind," Eve muttered. "Anyway, in the interest of full disclosure, Vickie fully intends to give me a title shot, likely at a show of my choosing. It's not like I can just call in the rematch whenever I want - it's not like money in the bank - but she is letting me pick. Just... I have to give at least week's notice."

"That's more than fair to AJ... Although I imagine the look on her face when she finds out that you get a shot at the title is going to be pretty interesting."

"I figure she'll throw another screaming fit... Just like she always does," Eve said, shooting a look at her. "You do realize that, in addition to me getting a title shot at some point, there's a ready-made match all nice and prepared down the road, don't you?"

"What do you mean?"

Eve arched a brow, stopping so that she could turn to face Kaitlyn. "Tonight? After what I just did? I'm pretty sure that we have a tag team match in our future. Me and you against Layla and AJ," she said, and Kaitlyn shrugged.

"You think I'm not good with that? I asked you to come back."

"Yeah, but... No offense... you were desperate. You needed help, and I wasn't sure how you'd actually feel about teaming up with me when the time came."

"Well, I'm still good with it. I know what you're capable of. I'd rather have you with me than against me... Especially since I've already got two people against me."

"Not to mention AJ's lapdog Big E. I know you managed to get him banned from ringside tonight, but he's still going to be around. We're going to have to keep an eye out-"

"Or get someone to do it for you," another voice said, and both divas turned to look at the man that was headed down the hall in their direction.

Dolph Ziggler.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

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Part Three

Eve took a step back at the sight of the man approaching them, the woman looking more than a little unsure of how to take his presence... Likely because, during her first run in the WWE, she'd had very little to do with Dolph Ziggler. Odds were that Eve didn't really trust the guy and, the truth was, if not for the fact that Dolph had some very real problems with AJ and Big E of his own, Kaitlyn wouldn't trust him, either. And she sort of only trusted him when it came to the issues with AJ and Big E anyway.

"Hey, Dolph," the Houston native said quietly, nodding a greeting at the man, and he frowned as he came to a stop in front of the two women.

"You okay?" he asked Kaitlyn, and she nodded.

"Sore. Not injured. Eve made sure things didn't get that far," she said, and Ziggler nodded, his gaze moving to the woman standing at Kaitlyn's side.

"Yeah. Gotta admit... Surprised to see you here. Good surprise, though. At least for Kaitlyn's sake. Sounds like you're sticking around?"

"I signed a new deal," Eve said, and Ziggler nodded, then glanced around, almost like he expected someone to be listening in or something. Despite the fact that no one else was really around, the man turned and headed down the hall, gesturing for them to follow him. And while Eve looked a little hesitant to do so, Kaitlyn headed off immediately and, after a few seconds, Eve heaved out a sigh and started to follow him as well, hurrying her first few steps in order to catch up with Kaitlyn. The former - and now once again current - diva glanced at the woman beside her. "Is this really the best idea?"

"We need someone to help us deal with Big E. Logic dictates that he's the best choice," the other woman said, and Eve nodded slightly at that, knowing it was true. After all, Dolph was the one that AJ had repeatedly sent Big E after over the past few weeks... Clearly, the current divas' champion was *not* taking their break-up well. Likely because he was the one that instigated it. Most of AJ's other encounters - Eve hesitated to call them relationships - ended with someone being shoved off a high place or something. And in some cases (like that of CM Punk), she'd continued pursuing the guy *after* she'd shoved him off of a high place. Punk probably considered himself lucky now that he looked back and realized that all he'd really gotten for refusing AJ's marriage proposal was a slap across the face.

"My locker room's in here," Dolph said as he shot a look at the two women over his shoulder, the man pulling open the door, then stepping back to allow them to enter the room first. Once they were inside, he followed them in, closing the door behind him, then heading over and grabbing a couple of ice packs from the table, tossing them to Kaitlyn. "I grabbed them from the trainers for you before I came to find you."

Kaitlyn nodded, immediately applying one of the ice packs to her wrist. "Thanks," she said, slumping down in one of the chairs in the room... Eve glancing around briefly before heading over and hopping up onto the table, sitting cross-legged on top of it. Dolph frowned as he looked at the woman.

"I know you don't trust me-"

"I don't really know you," Eve broke in. "Just because we spent several years working in the same place doesn't mean we ever really knew each other."

"True enough. And maybe the whole 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' thing isn't enough of a reason for you to trust me. But the thing is... We all have our beefs with someone in that group, whether it's AJ or Layla or Langston. AJ thinks it's all well and good to send Langston after me because she can't seem to grasp that it's over. I got sick of her juvenile bullshit games. Kait over here... She's got beef with all three of them. And you? Well, I think it's pretty obvious that your main beef is with Layla."

"Well, she is the one that attacked Kaitlyn at Night of Champions... and I'm the one that was blamed for it. And, quite frankly, I'm not exactly a fan of your crazy ex-girlfriend, either. She's kind of a bitch."

"Yeah, I figured that out."

Eve arched a brow. "She reminds me of those high school mean girls... Except she throws a much more severe tantrum when she doesn't get her way. Which could actually work for us or against us, if you think about it. I mean, if you don't mind winning because of disqualification..."

Ziggler made a face, likely because he'd done exactly that once before... He'd won a match against Langston via disqualification when AJ had gone batshit crazy and attacked him. "Not the most fun way to win. I almost got my hair ripped out that one time," the man said, shaking his head, then coming forward, moving to stand in front of Eve. "I get that you don't really know me, and you definitely don't have a reason to trust me, but I've got a problem with these guys, just like you do. Those three are apparently already a unit, and the three of us? We're three individuals. To take them down, we can't just be three individuals. We have to be a team."

"I came back here to team with Kaitlyn. I figured I knew what I was getting myself into with her," the returning diva said, shooting a look over at the woman in question, who was still icing her wrist. Kaitlyn heaved out a sigh.

"And if I recall correctly, you shot me down."

"But I'm here now," the woman replied, then let her gaze slide to Ziggler once more. "If we work together on this... We have to actually act as a team. We have to have each other's back. The one thing we've got going for us is the fact that those three haven't tagged with each other any more than we have," Eve stated, and that much was true. AJ and Layla had teamed together for the first time that night, and Kaitlyn and Eve had fought each other enough that they probably knew each other's ring tendencies well enough to work together. Big E had never teamed with AJ and Layla... much like Dolph hadn't tagged with the team of Eve and Kaitlyn.

"True enough," Dolph said, then smirked just a little. "Also, none of us is crazy... Not to mention the fact that all of us? Have a pretty good reason to want some revenge," he said, and Eve nodded at that.

"Well, there is that," she said, and Kaitlyn nodded, moving forward to stand next to Dolph, her eyes on Eve.

"So I guess we're a team?" the Houston native said, and Eve nodded again.

"I guess we are."

Dolph smirked. "So that means I get two hot valets now, right?" he questioned.

Kaitlyn hit him with an ice pack.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Note: Just a reminder - this is set in early August, and they were still keeping the Total Diva newbies at ringside only.

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Part Four

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you to the trainers?" Eve asked as she and Kaitlyn left Dolph's locker room, the three of the having decided nothing more than that they needed to have each other's backs. Truthfully, Eve still wasn't entirely sure that they could trust Dolph, but that was more her own paranoia than anything else, she supposed. Kaitlyn was the one that had been around the company for the past several months, not her, so she probably knew better than Eve did... Even if Eve hated to admit that.

"No, I'm fine. Besides that, going to the trainers is a sign of weakness. AJ and Layla would love to know that they might have hurt me... Which they didn't. I mean, I'm banged up and will probably have a few new bruises in the morning, but I'm not injured," the diva said, and Eve nodded, then gestured in the general direction of the exit... Or at least the part of the building that the exit was in.

"Okay... Then, if you don't need me, I'm going to head out. The show's basically over now, and if you think you can get to the divas' locker room and back without a problem, then I'm going to go ahead and leave."

"I've got it covered, actually," Kaitlyn replied. "I'd kind of thought that I might end up needing to make a fast getaway, so my stuff's already in my car. I just want to grab a bottle of water before I head out, so... Go on, and I'll see you at SmackDown."

Eve nodded. "Okay. You have my number, right?"

The younger woman nodded. "I'll only use it if I really need it," Kaitlyn assured her, and Eve rolled her eyes at that before turning and heading off in the direction of the parking garage while Kaitlyn headed towards catering to try and snag a bottle of water before she left.

As she made her way down the hallway, Eve adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder - a stagehand had brought it to her while she and Kaitlyn had been in Dolph's locker room - the newly re-signed diva staring straight ahead as she walked, not really wanting to see whatever looks people were giving her. She knew that her reappearance in the WWE had been unexpected and was likely to ruffle a few feathers, but she didn't particularly care about that. She was back now and, with a little help from Kaitlyn and probably Dolph Ziggler (who she had to admit they would need if Big E decided to get involved) she would get revenge on Layla for what the older woman had done. Being accused of being the one behind the attack on Kaitlyn had made her final months in the WWE very difficult, and not even the fact that she'd been the divas' champion had made things much better. The truth was, the only reason she'd stayed as long as she had was because she'd been the champion... Once that was gone, it was time for her to leave. But now... Now people knew the truth, that Layla had been the one to both orchestrate and perpetrate the attack, that Teddy and Aksana had deliberately attempted to frame her for their own means (getting her fired and Aksana hired as the assistant to the GM, a goal they never actually reached)... Now, they all knew that she was innocent.

Somehow, aside from the one she'd gotten from Kaitlyn, she didn't really expect an apology.

"Well, look who came crawling back," a familiar voice said from nearby, and Eve paused, turning her head to look at Nikki Bella.

"I'm sorry... Do you think this looks like I'm crawling? I came back because I was asked to come back," Eve declared, which was actually the truth. After all, Kaitlyn had asked her to come back... And besides that, when she'd quit, Vickie Guerrero had told her that if she ever wanted to return, then all she had to do was call. Arching a brow, she looked at the other woman, vaguely noting that she had her minion Eva Marie - and wow her hair was a shade of red that was not found in nature - in tow. "And really, Nikki... Like you have room to talk anyway."

Nikki glared at her. "I should kick your ass, you know. You're the one that fired me and Brie-"

"Technically, you weren't fired. The two of you just wasted too much time playing games and your contracts ran out... And it was decided not to renew them at the time." Eve shrugged. "And besides that, it was John Laurinaitis that made that decision. He simply asked me to make sure you were aware of the decision."

"You're such a bitch."

"Look who's talking," Eve tossed back, rolling her eyes when Nikki took a step toward her, glaring at her. "Seriously? Are you trying to be threatening? Because while you've been off filming a reality show, I've been continuing my training in Brazilian Jujitsu, and I'm not afraid of you."

"There are two of us here, you know," Eva Marie piped up, and Eve snorted in derision at that.

"Aw, how cute. You actually think you count," Eve said sweetly, shaking her head as the other woman's jaw actually dropped in shock at her words.

"I- You... How dare you-"

"I wouldn't pick a fight with me if I were you. I mean... Nikki's injured, and you're... irrelevant. I mean, seriously, the only thing I've ever seen you do is lie about being able to dance, and well... I really wasn't impressed," Eve stated, arching a brow as she looked from one woman to the other, waiting for them to pop off with some sort of a comeback or maybe for Eva Marie to show her stupidity and attack her... She didn't think that Nikki would, not with the other woman still not being cleared to wrestle after her shin injury. Pain in the ass or not, she didn't think Nikki would jeopardize her recovery like that.

Eva Marie squared her shoulders and stood a little straighter. "How dare-"

"Well, there you are. I've been looking for you," a new voice said, and Eve couldn't help but smirk as CM Punk approached her, the man walking by Eva Marie and Nikki like he didn't even notice they were there. He arched a brow as he looked at Eve. "You know, when I talked to you yesterday and you said you had a surprise for me, I really didn't expect it to be this."

"Hey, you know me. I like to keep people guessing."

"Obviously," Punk said, the man stepping closer to her, reaching out to rest his hands on her hips. "So... You got a car?"

"I took a cab, actually. I'm going to have to call another one when I get to the parking garage-"

"Yeah, no you're not. You're heading out with me. We'll grab a late dinner or something, and you can tell me all about your exciting decision to come back to the WWE-"

"Excuse me, but we were having a conversation here," Eva Marie piped up, and Punk looked over at her, arching a brow.

"Who are you again? Oh, wait, that's right. I don't care," he said, then turned back to Eve. "You ready to head out?"

"Definitely," she replied, and he grinned, moving to stand beside her, his arm draped over her shoulders.

"Then let's get the hell out of here."


End file.
